DONATE

Friday, November 30, 2012

Don’t Let the Door Slam on Your Back

I have to admit my first thought on someone who renounces their citizenship to the still freest nation in the world is to screw that person over, even if it is to tax the cheese out of them. However, calmer moments of thought lead me to believe in Liberty more than anger.

The blurb of President Washington allowing Americans to leave for Great Britain because they favored British rule is a good story of Liberty. Nonetheless a big dog like Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin that leaves the same USA that made him rich should be made more difficult to continue business in the USA.

After further investigation I discovered that Saverin is moving to tax haven Singapore. If Brazilian born Saverin actually resides in Singapore he may have to go underground with his reputed playboy ways. Singapore is NOT real big on the Liberty thing like the good old USA. I don’t know though, Singapore’s courting of the world’s wealthy to avoid socialist style taxation may look the other way. I’m not sure if there rule of law enforcement for the average guy and rule of law looking-the-other-way for the wealthy or the immigrant wealthy.

Senator Charles Schumer has recently proposed a new law to tax Americans heavily for leaving the United States. It was in reaction tothe newsthat Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook, had renounced his AmericanCitizenshipand was taking his $2 billion dollars in capital gains with him.

Schumer proposed to tax him 30%. Sadly John Boehner, Republican, Speaker of the House (I still think he’s a disguised Democrat), said he would support the measure.

Schumer must thank Adolph Hitler for this idea. The Fuehrer instituted the Reichsfluchsteuertax of 25% on Jews leaving the Fatherland in the 1930s. So Herr Schumer has merely taken the basic idea and upped it by 5%.

Richard Samuelson, history professor atCalifornia State University, San Bernardino, quoted by National Review points to the historical significance of Schumer’s bill.

“Schumer’s attack is fundamentally misguided, and reveals a disturbing attitude toward private property. Should it impose such a tax, the American government would be saying that property is no longer truly private.”

He goes on to point out that George Washington, in January 1777 made the heart-rending decision to allow his followers to cross to the English side and take all of their property and savings with them if they felt they would be better off under the rule of the King. This was one of the darkest periods of American history, but Washington knew that liberty was of paramount importance and felt he had no right to impound the property of the settlers. His followers were fighting for the liberty to live where they pleased and to be free of arbitrary taxation. Why should it be different now?

It is my opinion (and only my opinion at this point) that starting very soon the IRS will begin collecting an exit tax of up to 30% on any of your savings leaving the country. The first stage would be to tax only very large assets but later I believe the ceiling will come down to cover even modest nest eggs because this government is in deep financial trouble. Obama and the Congress continue to spend money at an alarming rate and only your savings can pay the bills.

But you still have time to avoid it.

During the 2007 legislative year of the US Congress,a bill entitled “Tax Collection Responsibility Act of 2007” almost became law. This bill sought to impose an exit tax on all persons leaving the USA to take up residence abroad and thereby renouncing permanent resident status in the US, or people who renounced their UScitizenship.

It was introduced by Rep Charles Rangel (Harlem NY), and co-sponsored by Representatives Earl Blumenauer, Joseph Crowley, John Larson, Sander Levin, John Lewis, Jim McDermott, Kendrick Meek, Earl Pomeroy and Chris Van Hollen. You will be amazed to learn that all of these Congressmen are Democrats. Not one Republican sponsored this bill.

As an Independent Republican who thinks that most Democrats are 100% wrong about practically everything, I almost hesitate to mention that I actually liked some things about Charlie Rangel. Of course there were many things I did not like about him too. I saw him as a Democrat who always stood up for his constituents (even if they were wrong). He was a flamboyant, charming, extrovert; a showman who loved publicity. I used to think of him almost as a later version of W.C Fields; a character you love, but you know you should hate. He was a Democrat with a sense of humor and probably the only one unless you count Biden and his humor is singularly unintentional.

Charlie distinguished himself in the U.S. Army. He was, in fact, a hero with a Purple Heart and a bronze Star. After leaving the army he attended University and became a lawyer(always a suspicious move in my opinion). In 1971 Charlie won a seat in Congress representing the heavily Democrat district of Harlem. In 2007 he became chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. And that was probably the turning point at which Charlie went bad. He wasn’t really bad - bad, like some other Congressmen, Senators, and Presidents. He fudged his taxes and flirted with the finer points ofthe law. But, he was bad enough to be forced to resign when, on December 2, 2010; the full House approved a sanction of censure against him. Anyway, Charlie was the sponsor of that tax collection bill because Charlie wanted to keep the money close to home where he could keep an eye on it.

Similar bills were put forward many times. None of them passed.

Don’t hold your breath citizens. It will come up again soon.So, if you have any plans for leaving the country with your hard-earned savings you had better do it very soon.

30% tax on all assets above $600,000. This included the cash value of property and bank accounts

The generalidea of the “Tax Collection Responsibility Act of 2007” was to discourage people from leaving the United States and taking their savings with them. In essence, it imposed a 30% tax on all assets above $600,000. This included the cash value of property and bank accounts.

While similar bills have failed, and Schumer’s may also fail, how long do you think it will be before some of Obama’s thugs bring up a version that will pass? And, how long would it take the next Congress to vote that bill into law?

Most people do not have $600,000 anyway, but I’m sure this dedicated President will get to them eventually.

Let’s face it people—-the government is in trouble. They have a President who spends money like water. He can’t get his hands on enough of it and he will find many ways to tax you out of all of your savings until he has brought you down to the financial level of his half-brother in his native Kenya. In fact, his avowed aim is to make all men in the world equal in poverty, except for himself, of course. In his philosophy all men are equal except that some are more equal than others.

Even before I researched this bill,I knew that Obama would be coming after those who leave the country to live in other lands early on. Few of those who remain in the United States would care about the fate of those who want to leave. Most Americans would not be able to leave anyway and they certainly would want your hard earned savings to be available for their use in the form of welfare. They would be horrified to think someone like you who wants to leave the Obama Utopia would be allowed to take their savings with them.

My wife Marcia and I saw this coming ten years ago and that is one of the reasons we felt compelled to find a home in another country. We were never rich. But we took what little we had andinvestedit in land andreal estateseven years ago. We have never regretted that wise move.

We pay taxes to the IRS just as we did when living in the United States. The little we owe on our Social Security payments is not worth worrying about. We have not renounced ourcitizenshipand have no plans to do so in the future. We are simply Americans living abroad.

This bill may never affect you as long as you move before it becomes law. In past versions it was not retroactive.

So, if you buy property abroad before the bill becomes law you should not have to worry. How long this will be I can’t say. But I would suggest that if you plan to move anyway, do it as soon as possible.

This message is for those who want to leave and have the means to do so.

David Rushton was born in London where his parents were staunch conservatives. He immigrated to the United States in the sixties and formed a patriotic organization advocating conservative principles which include rallies and marches. He had his own radio talk show for many years and was also a guest on many radio and Television talk shows.

In the last few years David wrote several books about the dangers of radical Islam and spoke on this subject in some of the largest Conservative Churches in the United States.